Realm Runners

CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN: Koa-Toa Crystal

7

APR/13

The Tombstone

Aces, Modreg, Megilwath, Fanidea, Ehd, Cliff and Terrlen have been on the ship sailing up the Sword Coast for two days. Bad weather has slowed their journey, fighting the tide wind and rain, it has been miserable. On the third day, the rain lets up enough for them to emerge from below deck. Captain Gregor Faringray and his two sons, Braedon and Darrell are still wearing their foul weather gear and look disheveled and tired.

Cliff has been praying a lot, Terrlen maps the Tombstone and enlists the help of Ehd. Aces helps out where she can squeeze between Gregor and his sons. Modreg hates being on the water. Megilwath has kept to himself brooding in the corner, and Fanidea sharpens her scythe.

The Feypoppies, Teena Tigerlily, Vitnee Moonshale and Chael Starwind practice their song and dance routine on the deck of the ship.

Rumbert, Raggert, Radnor and Rimblenose, mostly keep to themselves playing cards below deck, though they frequently emerge to vomit over the side, even though they haven’t eaten since Baldur’s Gate. Aces joins them, playing for a while looking to learn more about the four dwarves and their three elven employer’s interest in Sona Summergale. She gets a little info but for the most part, the dwarves stay quiet about gossip.

After an argument between Captain Gregor and his sons about being behind schedule, they decide to make anchor earlier than usual, near a wrecked boat about the same size as their own. It is wedged up in the rocks, near the shore.

The Wreck

Cliff, Ehd and Fanidea swim over to explore the abandoned ship and drag Megilwath along. On the deck, they find two skeletons, floating and bumping against the partially sunken ship’s rail and a strange symbol etched into the mast, and elsewhere on the ship. A point with 6 lines radiating from it. Four straight vertical lines below that l and one horizontal wavy one across the bottom. Most of the cargo has long since been looted but they discover spears in skeletons on cots.

Outside they can hear splashing and yelling from the Tombstone. The four explorers emerge from the underbelly of the wreck to see what the commotion is all about. Everyone is looking over the rail of the Tombstone and throwing things into the water. Braedon yells out that they saw something under the waves, humanoid and green with a spear.

Cliff and Ehd quickly dive into the water to check it out, and Fanidea follows, when she looks back to Megilwath, he is swimming back to the Tombstone. Frustrated and looking for a fight, she turns to head after the Monk and Warlord.

On their way down, Cliff spots a creature swim down and into an underwater fissure. He points it out to Ehd and they head towards it. Fanidea swims quickly to catch up.

Koa-Toa Lair

They emerge inside a dripping cave. Fanidea leads them with her dark vision into a large cavern with crude stone pillars and small ponds. They can see more of the symbols that they found in and around the wrecked ship. Fanidea checks the depth of the pools and lets her companions know that they go deep, and not to fall in. Cliff heads towards the largest pool and as he does, Kuo-Toa jump from the waters to attack the intruders. They pile in with their spears. The three are able to wipe out the first few with easy, but before long, they begin attacking from their pools, launching javelins. Ehd and Fanidea work on killing the ranged swimmers, while cliff hits the few who pop up from behind them. Soon after, the Koa-Toa are killed, and the three head further into the lair.

In the next area Fanidea notices a large dark shape under the water of one of two large pools, and Ehd is able to catch a glimpse of another Kuo-Toa in one of the pools. Suddenly a huge Crocodile explodes from one of the pools with a Kuo-Toa Drowner riding on it’s back and flipping a barbed net int the air catching Cliff inside. The Croc follows behind and bites into the Monk. As they begin to attack a second Crocodile bursts from the water behind to sandwich the heroes.

Fanidea discovers that her Flamestrike inhibits the crocodile’s algae regeneration, and Ehd works to keep the field under control. Cliff takes the brunt of the attacks but does a good job of keeping the enemies from attacking his friends. He falls during combat but manages to be healed. Before the first Croc dies, Fanidea casts Servitude in Death causing it to rise after falling and fight for the drow. She and Ehd continue to attack the now dismounted Drowner, and eventually the Undead Croc snaps the Koa-Toa in half. Fanidea turns it on the second croc and when it snaps at it, the second croc moans and cowers back to the pool in which it came.

They heal Cliff and head into the next cavern, as they approach, they can see a light owing brighter and brighter until they turn the corner and it is snuffed out in an instant. When their eyes adjust they find themselves in a large pool room with a shrine of a Koa-Toa priestess. A frightened Koa-Toa dives into the water and swims away. Cliff finds a stash of treasure under the water in the amount of 500 gold, a pair of Strikeback Gauntlets and a Girdle of Shielding.

Fanidea notices a small black crystal floating in the head of the stone statue’s staff. She removes it, and they head back towards the Tombstone.

Near Miss

As they exit the lair, Fanidea, Cliff and Ehd notice that her pouch is glowing brighter and brighter. The crystal within is gaining energy and when the swim out of the fissure, a beam of incineration fires from the crystal, through the pouch and up towards the Tombstone, narrowly missing it.

A huge thunderclap hits the ship, and a giant beam shoots from the water into the sky. The Feypoppies are frozen in terror, the dwarves hit the deck and the crew of the Tombstone duck. Aces recognizes the effect from the Goblin Tower and dives into the water where the beam originated, her maul rips her towards Fanidea and even before The drow can surface, the mul swipes the crystal fom her hand, and gets it into her bag of holding before it can recharge.

Fanidea Cliff and Ehd apologize for bringing back something so dangerous, and Aces explains to them what she knows about the power of the shards.

The next morning, they pull up anchor and continue on towards Neverwinter.